What is the Centennial Edition of The Benton Courier?
The Gann Museum is one of a few places where copies of a very special edition of The Benton Courier can be purchased. But what is it that makes this edition so special? The Centennial Edition of the Benton Courier was first published on March 25, 1937. The Gann Museum sponsored its creation in celebration of the Sesquicentennial of Arkansas statehood as well as that of Saline County and the City of Benton.1
As a public historian who often writes about topics related to our local history here in Saline County, I almost always go back to this book. The Centennial Edition contains more than a hundred years of history in the county, and it provides a snapshot of what life was like here during the Great Depression. Within its pages, you’ll find articles about the formation of Saline County, its towns, its schools, its industries, and its most prominent citizens at that time. The Centennial Courier is an invaluable source for local historians. It is probably the closest anyone has come to writing a history of Saline County as a whole.
Copies of the Centennial Courier can be purchased at the Gann Museum, the Saline County History and Heritage Society, and the Saline Courier office on Market Street. Every local historian needs a copy of this book in their library. At the Gann Museum we have several reproductions of the Centennial Courier for $30 each. It is well worth it for its more than one hundred pages of history and photographs. We have an original copy of the Centennial Courier in our current exhibit celebrating 150 years of the Saline Courier.
1 Benton Courier – Centennial Edition, March 25, 1937, Cover.